Everybody's Fire
by Jackilyn Trades
Summary: Collab with black-ostia; formerly known as jesusmyl0rd . More and more strange things have been happening in the Junkyard on the arrival of a strange loner queen, involving laboratories, unnatural abilities, a mechanical body, and a second chance to live. ON HIATUS.
1. Introduction

_First Cats fanfic, with the help of _jesusmyl0rd_... please, R&R!_

~!~

The dumpster was nothing much to look at. The rusted metal box was painted a dirty scum-green, and was already peeling off from age. The pungent, horrific smell of human garbage overflowing from it was strong enough to make the Everlasting Cat faint.

But a fainting Everlasting Cat, or the dumpster, or anything else for that matter, wasn't the focus of a small rat scuttling under it, squeaking pleasantly as it nibbled away with its sharp little teeth on an old shoe. Suddenly its head snapped up, and it sniffed the air cautiously. Was there something nearby? It sat unmoving and alert for a few moments, its large ears slightly un-proportional to its size twitching about. It relaxed and returned to its business.

Out of nowhere a black and gray tabby landed on the unsuspecting rat's tail. It squeaked and chirped in terror as as its captor's paw lifted it by its long pink tail, bringing the trembling prey towards her glistening mismatched eyes and grinning mouth. "Don' eat meh, shipmate!" it squeaked in terror. "Don' eat meh!"

The grinning mouth grinned even wider, revealing its two rows of pointed fangs. "I won't eat you…yet." The tabby waggled the terrified rat a bit. "Haven't you ever learned that cats love to play with their food?" She tossed the poor rat into the air several times, ignoring its high-pitched screams, and when she caught it in her jaws the ninth time, she bit it a little too hard. Thus was the end of the pipsqueak's agony.

"_Waugh_." The tabby glared around at an unseen enemy. "My rat!" Nothing but the soft breeze answered it. Apparently assured by the statement, it trotted off with its prize between its jaws.

The night was so dark it made no difference to a human whether it opened or closed its eyes. But the protagonist was a cat, and she could see clearly that it was going to rain. Thunderclouds rolled ahead in the night sky, and she began walking faster, finally breaking into a run as fat water drops began splashing everywhere.

The tabby eventually darted under a large rusty iron sheet propped up by an old brick wall. She darted under it and, in the noisy, damp evening, began enjoying a silent dinner of rat.

As she finished gnawing on its skull, a screech of tires on gravel reverberated in her ears, and light suddenly flooded the alley. She hissed venomously and pressed back against the wall.

She knew it was them even before she saw them. That is, their legs. Their strange, furless, large, hind legs with their strange cloth bindings to them. Ungraceful and clumsy, that's what they were. They were strange, these humans. They had no claws, no fangs, no nothing for protection, but they were smarter, smarter than his kind, and acted like they owned the world. Which they probably did.

"This bloody damned cat has to be everywhere," she heard one grumble, his alcoholic breath polluting in the air. "We've been after him forever and we never get at him."

"Close your face, you oversized twit. This is our job," the other one hissed, so quietly and cat-like the tabby nearly laughed at the irony. _Oh, you won't get hold of me._ _You never have, and never will._

With that, the tabby leapt out of her hiding place onto their feet, yowling horribly. "Bloody hell!" the first human who spoke, a fat, greasy-looking man, roared, completely forgetting the use of the rope he carried. He really _was_ an oversized twit. She clawed at the man's clothes, sinking her sharp teeth in them. The smaller, quicker companion saw his chance and threw the rope around the tabby's neck. She howled and desperately tried to twist her way out. "We got it!" the small human laughed as his companion kept cursing his legs. "We got it!"

The tabby, desperate, contorted her body and gnawed at her restraint as the humans dragged her to their van. _Van…_ Suddenly the tabby saw memories flash in her mind…

_A queen with similar markings as hers being put in a sack with other tiny kits…_

_A human in white with knives in his strange paws, slowly aiming at her head…_

_A Pollicle staring out at her on a table with one lifeless, bloodshot eye, a tube inserted in the other empty socket…_

NO! That was never going to happen again! _NEVER!_ The tabby pulled on the rope as hard as she could, straining her entire body despite the fact it cut through her skin. It broke off, and she ran, the noose still tightly wrapped around her neck like a collar. She ran and ran, the humans yelling and running after her.

The commotion awakened a Pollicle, and it started howling and barking, and decided to join the chase. Another Pollicle heard his war cry and followed. Pretty soon the tabby had two humans and ten Pollicles running at her tail.

_Run… Run…RUN!_ The tabby screamed at herself. She rounded a corner and saw a narrow space between two brick walls. She ducked into it, and waited breathlessly for her hunters to pass.

Silence. Blessed yet Goddamned silence. The tabby got up slowly, the tire of the chase still not quite lifted from her. She padded through the shadows heavily, her head no longer held high. She was exhausted…

Her gray legs buckled beneath her and she fell into the gutter nearby. Only then did she comprehend how the night spun and dimmed. And how the rope was slowly choking the life out of her.

And how alone she was.

~!~

"Ugh. I'm full...what about you, Straps?" Rum Tum Tugger slowly turned his head to his older brother, who was walking straight and tall as always.

"Same. But not as full as you, Tug. Just enough for me to still walk straight and not look like I'm going to drop dead," Munkustrap replied nonchalantly, eyeing his slouching and tired-and-sick-looking figure from the corner of his eye.

Tugger groaned. "Is _that_ how _awful_ I look? Aw, geez, this'll _SURELY_ break my image." Munku rolled his eyes, sighing. "_WHY _didn't you tell me _NOT_ to eat those last two rats, Munk?" he added, drearily.

"I _DID!_ But you insisted that because they were so big and fat that they should be eaten as soon as possible," Munku rolled his eyes again.

Tugger silently cursed under his breath. He caught something from the corner of his eye and stopped walking (or trudging) as he turned his head to the side. Munku, an eyebrow raised, also looked to the side.

A black and grey queen was lying on the ground near them, a metallic ring was around her neck and it was attached to a wooden pole.

They eyed her suspiciously.

"Is that really a _CAT_?" Tugger asked in a whisper.

Munku slightly shrugged, "I'm not sure..." -he paused- "she has _BANGS_!"

Tugger nodded. "I could see that, Munk." He said. "What kind of a cat has _bangs_?" He lifted an eyebrow, still looking at the still figure.

Munku thought for a few heartbeats, then shrugged, "I can't think of any. I'm betting, none"

Tugger wasn't listening, for he was already slowly scanning the black and grey tabby from head to toe as a smirk crept on his lips. Munkustrap looked at his younger brother and rolled his eyes, groaning, "Aw, Cat. Not again," he mumbled.

Tugger looked up at his brother, frowning but still smirking, "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Munku shook his head and turned his gaze back to the tabby. He stepped up beside her and examined her closely. "She's not asleep. She looks unconscious." He looked at the metallic ring around her neck. "And this ring is surely the cause."

Tugger lifted an eyebrow and his smirk faded. Munku glanced at him, "It's not right to leave an injured queen out here." He gently started biting her on the neck, but Tugger immediately whined, "Why can't _I_ carry her?"

"_Because_, you narcissist, you're Tugger, and Cat knows what you'd do to her if _you_ carry her," Munku snapped. "Now let's go before I break her neck."

~!~

_Thanks, _jesusmyl0rd _for doing the last part of this chapter! Anyway... R&R and tell me what you think... Thanks..._


	2. Chapter 1: The Strange Queen

_ZOMG. LORD, OH LORD! PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR UPDATING SO LATE! Please? By the way, I'd like to thank _jesusmyl0rd_, yet again, for helping me with this chapter..._

~!~

The queen's eyes slowly fluttered open. She frowned and slowly sat up. She was staring at something metal. _What the-?_ She looked up and saw more metal. She took in her surroundings.

Metal.

When she looked across her again, she noticed a hint of light. She went towards it and nudged the metal on top of her with her head; making the top open up roughly.

_SCREEEECH._

What caught her off guard was the gray-and-white kitten shoving his dark hazel eyes into her green one. He was probably half a year old, a maroon oval was circling his left eye and cutting across his black little nose.

"What's that?" he asked, poking a paw at the flop of fur covering her other eye, the young tabby glared and pulled out of his way. "An object, thank you," she said dryly and leapt out of the trunk gracefully, only now acknowledging that the metal ring around her aching neck was gone.

She looked about her, frowning. She was in a junkyard.

"What kind of object?" the kit insisted, jumping beside her.

She scowled, "If you don't shut up, I might stuff your tail in your mouth, kit."

He grinned and said, "No thanks. My tail can't reach my mouth yet." She rolled her eyes, secretly amused at his cockiness, and walked off. The kit scampered past her and, cocking an eyebrow, followed him.

"Are you certain that she is not one of his allies?" a deep male voice asked.

Drawing closer, she hid behind a pile of junk in the shadows, and listened intently to the conversation as he ran to a group of kits.

"DAD," a young leopard-spotted black tom with a crazy hell of a mane protested. "We found her injured. ALONE!"

"She _could_ have been taking it, you know," a scarlet-colored queen suggested. "There was no blood."

"But she was obviously choking," an important-looking striped silver tom mused. "And the device around her neck was definitely human, from the smell alone."

"M-Macavity's Macavity," a shaking, nervous gold queen said nervously. "He can d-do anything..." She burst into sobs and a kindly marmalade old queen put a coaxing arm around her neck.

"Who's Macavity?" the curious tabby who was eavesdropping said accidentally aloud.

Immediately, all eyes, green, yellow, and brown, snapped towards her.

"Uh..." she backed away hesitantly. "Sorry, maybe I can ask about Cavity-guy later..."

"Oh, it's quite alright, my dear. May you sit down?" The old cat gestured to a spot beside him kindly.

"Really, I should be going," the tabby said, a little too harshly. "Trucks to dodge, pizza to steal; you know, the alley cat lot."

"You owe us one, you know," the tom with the mane said, raising a cocky eyebrow at her. "Better pay up first."

The silver tom and the red tabby fixed him with a glare.

"What?" the tom yelped as the old cat sighed exasperatedly. "There are no laws against repro-OW!" the middle-aged marmalade queen cuffed him with a firm paw.

The silver tom rolled his eyes and stood. "Pardon my brother's insanity." He glared a bit at said whining narcissist.

_They're _brothers_?_ the tabby thought amusedly_._ _Not much resemblance._

"Anyway," he continued, "we'd like to know how you ended up in your...situation earlier."

"Oh, nothing. Just a few stupid humans and some filthy dogs," the tabby replied curtly. "So, yeah, I _really_ need to get going..." she whirled around and scampered off.

The silver tom was about to run after her, when she stopped short. And looked up at the sky.

_"LORD IN HEAVEN, THE SKY'S COLLAPSING WITH THE SUN!"_

And fell on her side, unconscious.

The cats just gawked at her, then went asked each other what just happened.

"Munku...what did she say?" Bombalurina asked, still gaping at the unconscious tabby a few feet from them.

"I...think she said something about...the sky...collapsing with...the sun?" Munkustrap replied, doing the same, then frowned. He turned to the scarlet queen. "We should help her."

"But Munku," Bomba whipped her head around to face him, frowning, "what if she's-"

"I _doubt_ that she is Macavity's ally," he told her firmly, still frowning, then turned back to his father. "Father, we should take her in."

"B-but-" Demeter shook again.

"Dem," -he looked at her with solemn eyes- "she just got unconscious again. I think there is something wrong with her. We _should_ help her."

"But, it _could_ be all part of Macavity's plan, Munk," Bomba interjected.

"Bombie, c'mon," Tugger drawled. "Let's help the poor queen. Where's your hospitality?"

"Well, for your information, _Tugger_," -she glared at him- "I'm just being _careful_ here."

"Settle down. All of you." Old Deutoronmy's said in a commanding, but soothing and kind, voice. Everyone silenced and listened warily. Satisfied, Old D said, "You all have very good points. But, I think that we should help the 'poor queen' -as Tugger said-" -Tugger flashed a smug smirk at Bomba, who glared in return- "but only for a while. If she tends to disappear at times, we may suspect that she is Macavity's ally. But, if she tends to keep saying gibberish, we should let her have her own human to see what is wrong." He paused for a moment. "Now, for a start, let us carry the unconscious queen to a comfortable bed. Can anyone share his/her bed with her?"

Tugger opened his mouth to volunteer, but was cut off by Old D, "Excluding Tugger." He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, childishly.

"I want to volunteer, Old D, in order that I may keep a close watch on her," Bomba glanced at the still unconscious tabby with a frown, not seeing Demeter's look of protest.

Old D nodded, "Alright, then. I call this meeting adjourned."

Bomba stalked over to the queen, gently bit her neck and swung her on her back. "Let me help you, Bombie." Demeter said, and carried the queen on her back as well.

"Thanks, Dem," Bomba smiled a little and walked to her bed.

"Need any more help, ladies?" Tugger asked, hopefully.

"No, _thank you, Tugs_," Bomba and Dem said together, glaring at him. He flinched slightly, then shrugged and stalked off, thrusting his hips in the air. The queens just rolled their eyes and went away.

After a few heartbeats of silence, Dem asked gently, her head down, "Are you sure about this Bombie?"

Bomba gazed at her, "Yes, Dem. I'm sure."

She looked up at her, "But...what if she suddenly attacks you? Or worse?" she asked frantically, her eyes and voice filled with worry.

Bomba smiled, "Hey, don't underestimate me, Dem." She said, and looked forward, "I may be the sosy, cocky, Tempest, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." She glanced at her. "If this queen _does_, well, then, she's gonna get the fight of her life." She lifted her head up high.

Dem smiled and carefully placed the unconscious queen on Bomba's mattress.

The queen's green eye slowly opened as she moaned. She quickly sat up.

"Wh-where am I?" she asked whipping her head frantically around.

"Your...in the Junkyard," a scarlet queen said, a bit harshly.

The queen looked at her, shocked, "Oh. Um...hello. Uh...do you know why I am here?"

Suddenly, a male voice said, "Ah, so you're already awake." The queens looked up to see a silver tom on top of a pile of tires. He jumped down, beside the gold queen, who was faintly pink.

"Hi, Munk," the scarlet queen greeted, not smiling.

"H-hi, Munku," the gold queen greeted as well, "Um...I gotta go." -she looked at the queen beside her- "Bye, Bombie," -then turned to the tom- "bye, Munku." And she walked away, still pink.

"Well, then...uh..." the tom cleared his throat. "I guess we should introduce ourselves, then."

The black and gray queen blinked, utterly speechless and shy.

"My name is Munkustrap." The tom held out his paw. "Uh..." the queen looked at it, then shook it quickly and withdrew her paw, "hi." She replied, her head down.

"I'm Bombalurina," the red queen said. "And I'd like to inquire you that you're going to be sleeping with me for a while."

The queen jerked her head up to Bombalurina, her green eye wide with shock. The red queen cringed, "I didn't mean it like that, okay? I meant that, you're going to sleep on my bed, since I volunteered. But, you need to keep your distance from me, alright?" The queen gave a sigh of relief and nodded in understanding.

"Um...everyone would like to know what...happened earlier..." Munkustrap said.

The queen cocked an eyebrow at him questioningly, "What do you mean?"

"You...said something in gibberish...then fainted..." Bombalurina replied.

The queen looked at her, frowning, "I..._did?_"

They frowned. "Don't you remember?"

She looked at them both, and shook her head, "No. I don't. I don't remember _doing_ that at all!" She paused, and put her head down thoughtfully.

"Now, that I think about it...I can't remember what happened to me this morning, too."

~!~

_Phew. Okay, I'm done._

_Sorry, that this took SO long. I'm crammed with school and my other story. Plus, we have LOADS of assignments. AND our Sports Peace is coming up next week. So, yeah...PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!_


	3. Chapter 2: I Don't Belong Here

_Hwar! Third re-edit of chapter! WAUGH! Thank you _jesusmyl0rd _for doing the first and third editing; thank you my hands for being patient with the original and second editing; and thank you my brain for having more ideas for this chappy._

_Hokay. Please R&R!_

_P.S. For anyone who wants to kill me for posting this _**sooooooo **_late, you may do so after R&R-ing this chapter._

~!~

"And Dem kept going on and on about the sky that night, that it was the Everlasting Cat's magical bedspread!"

"Is it, really?"

"No; Jenny, her mother –"

"The orange queen?"

"Yeah – she just said that to shut her up while she was crying."

Bombalurina, who lay under the glittered night sky on a comfortable pile of junk, giggled as she recalled her kithood, and the grey tabby listening to her just chuckled politely. "And she kept on babbling about how all the stars were diamonds stitched to the hems of the thing," Bomba continued, smiling fondly at the memory. "It took me a long time to convince her that stars were big balls of gas a million miles from where we are, and you couldn't just reach out and pick the diamonds." The mirth faded from the pretty red queen's face, and she sighed. "That seems so long ago…"

"Why? What happened?" Flame, since that was what her name meant anyway, straightened to listen more attentively.

Bombalurina drew a breath, not sure if she should wittingly pour out her best friend's horrendous life story, and then began:

"Dem fell for a ginger tom called Macavity –"

"Who's that?"

"An exiled son of Deutoronomy," Bomba replied, forcing a casual tone. Flame nodded and gestured her to continue. "Macavity was a smooth-talker; very persuasive with his voice alone, not to mention he had quite a face and a body…" Bomba closed her amber eyes painfully, as if unearthing some long-forgotten memory she didn't want to dig up, and said lowly, "I had the (not so) privilege of enjoying it once… we were all young and foolish, especially Dem, and that only made her easier prey.

"He would come see her and talk to her with that well-oiled-silky manner of his, and I swear she seemed hypnotized after they had one of their… _sessions_…" Bomba shuddered. "And we all realized it; Macavity was a magician. He charmed Deuteronomy into letting him get away with things, he wooed choice queens with just a few sweet whispers, and he vanished in times of trouble where he seemed the most prominent suspect… but we realized it too late. He had carried off Dem to Bast-knows-where… we discovered out where that was soon enough.

"We found her in an abandoned flat, bloodied and bruised, her innocence taken. Gone was the bubbly, happy Demmie I knew… now she's utterly paranoid and jittery, and suspicious of everything…" She sighed and shook her head. "So forgive her if she was a bit suspicious when we first met you. Even a shadow jumps her…"

"It's okay," Flame said softly. "I get it…" A mischievous smile crossed her grey face, and she sniggered, "M'sure Munk could fix that."

Bomba gasped dramatically. "Ah, so those two really _are_ open books!" They giggled uncontrollably. "The static in their atmosphere really is inescapable…" Bomba laughed; glad their static mood was now eased.

Flame wanted to laugh more but she checked herself. _These cats are still strangers… I should watch my actions and words…_

"So tell me about yourself, then, hon," Bomba said at length. "Like… what's this supposed to be for?" She indicated at the flop of fur that was supposedly "bangs," and that covered her other eye.

Flame frowned at said "bangs" and pushed it off her face. "Hrm… dunno. It's been there since I can remember, and I never really knew its purpose." When she looked at Bomba, she frowned again; said red queen was staring at her in wide-eyed horror.

"F-Flame…?" A white-tipped paw was raised and pointing at her right eye.

"What?" Flame searched for something that could resemble a mirror.

"Your… your… eye."

Flame stopped her search, looking directly at Bomba. "What about it? It feels fine… it's not blind or anything…"

"No, I mean…" Bomba whirled the grey tabby around to face a faded steel sheet somewhere below her.

Flame's eyes widened. Her pushed-back flop of fur revealed a normal (and surprisingly pretty) eye that glowed in the dark, as did all normal cat eyes. But the unnerving thing about it was that it was, unlike her other eye, _very_. _**Not**_. _**Green**_.

"Y-Your… your other eye is… _blue_?" she asked bewilderedly as her new friend just stared at her reflection in disbelief.

"I…" Flame was at loss of words. "It would seem so…" Out of complete and total humiliation and embarrassment, she pulled the fur over her eye again, and hung her head, looking away from both the steel sheet and Bomba. _Now Bomba would tell the other Jellicles that I'm a freak of nature and—_

"Well… th-that's unusual…" Flame's train of thought was cut off by Bomba's stutters. "I've only met white cats with eyes like those… well…" Bomba stumbled over her words, trying to make amends to the offense she had made. "Hon, it's okay…" Gently she pushed away the fur once more; Flame visibly flinched but made no move otherwise. She tucked the fur behind her quivering ear again and said happily, "See? You look nicer that way…"

"D-_do_ I?" she asked hesitantly, and relooked her reflection on the steel sheet. "I… it feels _awkward_…"

"Don't be ashamed of your eyes, honey. They're actually quite an asset…" Bomba smiled kindly.

Flame stared at her face for a few more moments in a new light of disbelief, and slowly she pulled the fur back over her eye. "Sorry, Bombie, but I'm really not used to it…" Bomba sighed and patted the grey tabby's shoulder, "Your funeral, honey. Just a question: why'd you keep it that way?"

Flame sighed and slowly drew out every word with hesitation, "Well… like I said earlier, it's always been that way since I could remember… I've lived on the streets almost my entire life…"

"I see…" Bomba said, her eyes momentarily passing over her bunk mate's lanky, toughened build. _Poor kit; she's just so young_… "You don't remember anything at all… anything about your past?"

Flame opened her mouth to tell her about the ever-recurring nightmares she had the past few days about a white room, a human wielding knives, and animals in cages; but she knew better. She didn't even _know_ these cats – plus, she'd just lose their trust by saying anything like that. _Trust is a temporary façade where you get stabbed in the back_ is what she learned on the streets, and as far as she could remember, she'd learned it the hard way.

And yet the red queen had trusted her enough with her best friend's heavy burden… couldn't _she_ do the same?

"Um…" she hesitated, and came to a decision, "No, actually…" she lied. "Sucks, don't it? Having no buggered memory of who you are…" _That_ wasn't a lie.

"I sympathize with ya, hon," Bomba said, stretching lazily, in the only way cats could. "Wish I could sympathize more, but I really can't stay up any longer…" she yawned and dropped to the trash happily. "'Nite," she mumbled before dozing off.

It took Flame quite a while before she could mean the same thing as well.

~!~

Flame groaned and slowly opened her eyes. She frowned when she saw some junk in front of her. She quickly sat up and quickly scanned the place. She wasn't in her alley anymore. She was...

She looked down.

She was on a huge pile of junk. She scowled; those cats must've taken her in while she was unconscious again. She quickly jumped off the pile and stealthily searched for a way out.

~!~

"So, gents… whaddya think of that new queen, Flame?" Admetus asked, as a conversation starter. The toms had gathered on the roof of the TSE 1 to sun themselves in the morning rays… and gossip about the things toms normally love to gossip about. Flame was their object of interest right now, apparently.

"We-_ird_ sums it up," Plato sighed indifferently.

"She's… very egg-centric, 'f ye know wot Oi means," Jerrie said, not really wanting to offend anyone.

"Nice body," Tugger commented, as if he was just talking about the weather.

"You say that about _every_ queen, buddy," Tumblebrutus snickered, earning a thwap from the Maine Coon which he easily ducked.

Pouncival's paw shot up in the air. "I think she's cool!" he said happily. Everyone turned to stare at him like he said he wanted to be a Pollicle. "Wh-what?" he asked meekly, suddenly feeling smaller than he already was. "I m-mean, her 'bangs' are cool! And she's not the prissy queen you see everyday…"

"_Are_ you _mad_?" Alonzo snorted, shoving the not-quite-kitten-not-quite-tom with his hind paw. "She's just downright _creepy_! Those 'bangs' are unnatural; she talked gibberish in front of everyone the minute we met her; and she's just… not…"

"_Normal_ enough?" The cold, monotonous voice of steel personified came below them, and the toms looked down to see the queen they were talking of; her body rigid and green eye aflame with anger. Alonzo visibly gulped.

She sprang onto the car's hood and stalked past the others to the trembling black and white tom.

"Oh Bast, he's in for it," Admetus mumbled to Tumblebrutus, who was shaking his head sadly.

She drew herself to full height so her grey and black form towered over his lying, stiff body. As quick as a breath her paw had grasped his, and, slowly, painfully, she twisted it. Fear and shock visibly flitted over his pale, sweaty face as she twisted it even more. "Ow… _ow_… _OW_… _OWWW_!" He struggled to break free but found he was completely pinned down.

"You should be thankful I'm not extending my claws right now," she hissed at him through gritted teeth. "Oh, I'd love to polish this car clean with your air-headed, furry, incompetent backside!" He did nothing but whimper helplessly.

At length she released him, and he immediately set to wringing his poor paw and licking at it fervently. She then turned and saw the other toms staring at her, slack-jawed with fright and awe. "Who's next?" she growled acridly, and no one dared to breathe.

She shook her head and chuckled darkly. "You're all just sissy house cats…" she commented threateningly, noticing their collars. "If you wanna insult someone, say what ya wanna say straight to their faces, and not cluck among yourselves like nosy old queens!" She faced all of them fully. "So, if you all wanna _keep your fur on your skin_, then ya better _stop gossiping _about _someone who you don't even know_!" She spat, fury just bubbling from her seams. What gave them the right to make comments about her? _They _didn't know her. _She _most _certainly _didn't give a damn about _their _lives!

"Oh, and by the way…" Flame strode over to Plato, glowering, and it was now his turn to gulp. "You wanna know _why _I'm so weird?" She whirled around to glare at all of them again, "Spend all your lives out on the streets with no one to love but yourself. Get kicked out of any place by humans just because they think you don't belong there. Fight for every breath, every scrap of food you can get even just halfway down your gut. Do that and you'll see just why. So do me a favor and _shut up_ about me."

She leapt off the car and started to stalk off, when a tom bravely caught her tail. She hissed and whirled around to face the tom. "Flame, darling," Tugger drawled in what was supposed to be a disarming tone. "Don't get all riled up… we're really _sorry _about everything we said about you… _I _most certainly didn't say anything to offend you, right?" He smiled enticingly at her, adding a wink for effect.

Flame frowned, and roughly flicked her tail back from Tugger's paw. "My name… is _not _Flame." She growled.

"We know that," Tugger rolled over to his stomach still flirting with her, while the other toms gaped at him, mollified. "But it's what your name_ means_."

Flame's one green eye widened. _"How did you know that?"_ She hissed and turned around to face him fully, her claws slowly extending.

Tugger didn't notice. He frowned, "You _told _us. Yesterday afternoon."

Flame scowled at him, "I did _not_ tell _any _of you _anything _about _me_!"

"Yeah, you did," Tumblebrutus hesitantly interjected. Flame glared at him and he clamped his mouth shut.

"How could _you _know something about me when _I _don't even know _you_?" Flame glared at each of them, and the toms – except for Tugger – cowered in fear. "_Answer me_!" She hissed at Tumblebrutus.

He gulped and shakily said, "W-when you… woke up a-after you spoke g-g-gibberish yesterday aftern-noon…" he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "Y-you… told us that… your… n-name means… f-f-fire…" His whole form started to shake. "A-after that… we… in-introduced ourselves…"

Flame scowled at him and started to leave when Tugger caught her tail again. This time, she knew it was him, and she spun around, glaring and hissing at him, "_What now_?"

"You didn't pay up for my saving you yesterday…" he smirked. Flame scowled, and flicked her tail off his paw again. She whirled around and tackled him with fully-extended claws and swung a paw at his face. "_WHOA!_" Tugger dodged her attack, trying to push her off, but she stood firmly over him, trying to get even the tiniest hint of a scratch of his precious face, and one landed right on his left cheek. It was just a tiny scrape, but she was still satisfied to see the blood trickling from it. "There." She growled, "My debt's paid." With that, she jumped off him and scampered off, not wanting to be interrupted with her escape anymore.

When she was out of sight and hearing distance, the other toms looked blankly at each other then burst out laughing. Pouncival clapped the pitiful Alonzo on his back, guffawing, "Oh, man, bro, you were owned by a queen! You're priceless!"

"Wait 'til Cassie hears about this!" Plato was practically rolling around fitfully as he hugged the stitches in his sides. Alonzo reddened and yelped, "Y-you guys wouldn't dare!"

"Hey, Cassie!" Plato called out, chortling. "Can you come over here?"

"Plato, I'm going to _kill_ _**you**_!" Alonzo lunged at said tom, only doubling everyone's peals of laughter.

Tugger was silent, his eyes wide and still staring at the air where Flame used to be. He slowly reached up and wiped the blood off his face and he stared at his paw; it was a minor injury. The toms almost forgot about him, and they laughed even louder; even Alonzo joined in, just to ease his wounded ego. "Aw, Tugs!" Jerrie, who was nearest him, whacked his back. He didn't flinch, still rather stunned by the chain of events.

"A' leit now ye kno' 'ow s'like t' be rejected!" Jerrie grinned at the other toms. "Th' ferst blow's allus th' worst, ye'll git used t' it!" They were already crying with laughter, and some even rolled off the car in the process.

"_Would you guys cut that out_?" Tugger snarled, but they didn't hear him. He groaned gruffly, stood, and stomped off, his aura dark for the first time.

Only one tom, however, a little ebony tom with a pale chest and face, was silent and somber throughout the entire ordeal. Now he slipped off, unnoticed, to find the queen he knew had her pride wounded by those gormless cretins… and possibly her soul.

~!~

Flame was still walking around the 'Yard, hoping that no one would interrupt her silent and stealthy escape as she held back tears.

When had she cried again? When had she felt _pain_ again?

_**Never**__ since that night… that certain night, when I was changed… _Flame thought to herself bitterly, remembering. She shook her head to clear them away. No; she wouldn't try to remember again. Never, _ever_ again.

The tears were coming on now, but she stubbornly held them back; even though there was no one else around. _I've never cried then. Never felt pain again; physically or emotionally. Until those stupid _bastards _gossiped about me. Though they didn't say my name, I could easily tell that it's me – since, not a single cat I've met has my "bangs."_

She couldn't hold them back anymore. She let the alien wetness stream down her face.

Tears. They were streaming endlessly down her cheeks, and each drop only brought more pain. How long had it been since she last cried? Since… _never_, that was when. The stinging, fiery pain that shot through her eyes and raw nerves was very unfamiliar to her. But she welcomed it, wanting to feel it for the first time.

_Stupid, ignorant bastards!_ She swiped her claws over the side of a cardboard box nearby, ripping it loudly. _Unfeeling rocks of pride and self-praise!_ Oh, how she hated those toms now – whoever they were. She hated them with all her desolate heart. She shouldn't have interfered _or _entered that open space in the first place, and let them talk in their own little world. Of course they didn't understand her; they grew up in buildings where they were fed instead of beaten, where human hands collared their pretty necks instead of strangling them to death… They only gathered in this junkyard for social gatherings, claiming to know how to survive… Domesticity!

She sighed gruffly, and wiped her face with a paw, drying her face. Her eyesight lost its blurriness, and her eyes lost their misty covers. She looked around, and jumped on the tip of a pole on top of another pile of junk. She quickly scanned the half of the 'Yard, searching for something that could be a probable exit.

"Are you sure you want to leave?"

Flame quickly whirled around in shock. "Everlasting Cat!" she groaned, seeing a small tom sitting in front of the box she'd just victimized. He had a sad expression on his pallid face. She glared at him, and only then did she notice something about the salt-and-pepper tom: one of his eyes was a crisp azure hue…while the other was a rich xanthous shade…

"Oh holy shit," was all she could breathe out. The tom grinned. "It's not a crime to show one's uniqueness, Flame."

She snapped back to reality and directly asked him, "Why in Bast's name are you _following _me?"

He shrugged, "I just thought that you'd want someone to talk to… after everything you were thinking about those toms…"

"What the – How'dja – Oh damn… Who _are _you, anyway?"

"Magical Mr. Mistoffelees, at your service," he gave her a slight bow. "I could tell that you forgot about everything that happened to you yesterday afternoon."

"What, you can read _minds _or something?" She chuckled, but her smile dropped when he nodded. "What?" She hissed.

"I'm a conjurer of sorts," he clarified.

"Uh-_huh_," she frowned.

"When I was reading your mind… I saw that… your mother was… taken away from you, right?" Shocked to do anything else, she just nodded dumbly. "Well… that's one thing we have in common." He smiled kindly, sat down and motioned for her to do the same.

"What do you mean?" Flame frowned, curious, but not letting her guard down.

He took a deep breath and started, "I don't remember much of my mother and siblings, only that she was taken away by cat catchers. My… _father_" – he hissed when he said it – "kept me because I was special…just like _him_.

"He kept me and 'trained' me for 'the greater good of felinity.'" The tom scoffed. "Or maybe it was just for _his_ good.

"If I didn't do my magic the way he liked it, he would beat me up and starve me. When I didn't want to torture someone to death, he'd cut off a bit of my tail." He indicated to his small pitiful stump of a tail, what was left of his show of defiance. "I ran away the moment I got the chance and found this haven."

"Wait, wait…" Flame's green eye widened as she put two and two together. "Why are you telling me this? And… who's your dad anyway?"

"My father is, sadly, Macavity," he sighed, genuinely sad himself.

"The Cavity-guy you guys were talking about yesterday?"

He nodded. "At first no one accepted me here because… well, I was _his_ son, wasn't I? But slowly, _slowly_, they saw past my lineage and treated me as one of their own." He slowly looked up and at her green eye. "We're not the only ones who came from the streets, Flame."

She clenched her teeth and hissed through them, "My name… is _not _Flame."

"Well, what is it, then?"

She gulped. Could she trust him? Well… he was obviously telling her his past… but, heck. What harm could a simple name _do_? "Just... just call me Cami."

"Alright," He smiled gently at her and continued, "Well, as I was saying… Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had to thieve to live."

"Who're they?" She frowned.

"Jerrie is the red, black, orange, and white tom you saw earlier on the car, and Teazer is his female twin. They were as scrawny and as beaten-up like rags fresh from use." He sighed. "Alonzo, the black-and-white tom you tackled –"

"Ah, so _that's _his name, eh? Well, who was the narcissistic gold-and-black one?"

He chuckled, "Rum Tum Tugger's narcissism is very clear, is it?" She snorted. "Plato is the one with the maroon head." A memory instantly played in her head, and she grinned at it. Misto saw it and frowned but chuckled. "_Really_?"

"_HEY_!" Cami protested. "No more reading my mind, would ya?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized meekly then continued, "As I was saying… Alonzo also lived on the streets."

"That stuck-up excuse for a male wouldn't last a few minutes on his own," she scoffed.

"Cami," Mistoffelees said so softly yet firmly she had to listen. "He saw his family get crushed to death in a garbage truck."

Cami winced. "Well, _that_ sucks."

"Heck yeah. That's why he's a little _too_ bubbly and air-headed, because he doesn't want his past to show. He's a good guy, really; he wants to be the Jellicle Protector someday, once Munku takes over."

"Then you better ready your funeral then," Cami scoffed. The two stared uneasily at each other, until smiles slowly etched on each other's faces. Chuckles followed, then a few giggles. Pretty soon they were laughing just as terribly as the toms earlier.

"Oh, he – he can't even hurt a fly, actually!" Misto chortled, wiping happy tears from his eyes. "I blame Cass, actually. She's the slinky Abyssinian and his potential mate, but, honestly? She's more _male_ than he is!"

"I should give her pointers on how to scare the wits out of him," Cami grinned, barely able to get the words out since they were choked from merriment. "Just make him criticize you!" A fresh bout of glee started, and they about cracked their sides.

When they were finally able to breathe, Misto frowned and sat up. Cami sat up as well, "What's wrong?"

"May I?" Misto raised his paw, pointing at her flop of fur.

When she realized this, her eyes widened, and she yelled out, "_NO!_" She jumped away from him.

He dropped his paw and hung his head. "I'm sorry." He apologized again.

She thought about it and reconsidered. She slowly stepped forward towards him and tentatively pushed away her "bangs." Her sea-blue eye peered out at him, hesitantly studying the small smile on his face. "What?" she said self-consciously.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one with mismatched eyes," he said, and his smile broadened into a grin.

She smiled, and instantly stopped herself. _No, no, no!_ She spun away with gritted teeth, remembering the harsh voice of her dreams telling her, _**Never**__ get attached to anything or anyone in this world that easily fails you!_

"See ya." In two bounds, she was off the pile and was already scampering off to find a way out.

"_Wait_!" Misto ran after her, still on the pile. When he reached its end, he bounded off of it, and ran in front of Cami. "Are you _sure _you want to go?" His mismatched eyes flashed in sadness.

"Obviously, buddy," Cami growled. "Now, get out of my way or you could be a good little tom and show me the exit."

"But… can't you give us a chance?" He looked up at her sadly, pleading.

"Sorry, but no. If you won't help me, then—"

"Alright." She stopped talking. "I'll help you." He then turned around and started to walk slowly forward. She followed after him, exactly six steps away.

A few minutes later, Cami saw a broken plank of wood which was a part of the fence that surrounded the 'Yard. Misto stopped in front of it, and when Cami was beside him, he asked again, "Are you positive about your decision?"

"I'm starting to want to break your arm for repeating that, mate." She glared down at him, but he was suddenly immersed in studying his black-and-white paws.

"Alright, then… just remember that you have someone who understands you here…" Misto looked up at her frowning grey face.

"Whatever." She scoffed and went through the hole of the broken wood plank.

Misto sighed. He had finally found someone that had an almost similar past to his, but she didn't accept to be his friend…

"Hey, Mistoffelees?" He looked up to see Cami's grey face poke out of the hole. "Thanks, by the way. For leading me to the exit." Her blank expression didn't change, though. When he merely nodded, her head disappeared again.

Through the hole, he saw her retreating shadowy figure run down the dark alley and into the world.


	4. Chapter 3: Welcome to My Life

_T.Y.V.M. tah' _jesusmyl0rd _fer edittin' this chapter! Hats off to First Mate Tails, conqueror of the 3__rd__ Cami Sea! _:D

~!~

Cami slunk through the grimy alleyways of London, ignoring the yelps of humans disgruntled by her presence. Picky, snooty humans. She could never imagine herself being one. Goodness; they were practically deaf, and pretty much clumsier than those elephants she saw back at Mumbai, India, and that was saying a lot. Those gentle beasts were definitely not as brutal and heartless, and they danced a lot better too.

_Up, down, up, down, left, right, left, right_… She chanted to herself as she wove herself deeper and deeper into the system of brick buildings and run-down shacks. She tried to ignore the poor old tramps that were slumped against the walls with only their thin, bony bodies for a source of warmth not at all provided by their tattered clothes. _Poor guys_, she thought. _At least they don't bother me; some even don't mind sharing their measly crumb of a meal…_

Finally she found that familiar ugly green lump of metal with the rough sketch of a fireball on one side. She remembered how she expected blood to come out of her tired claws when she was done doing the stupid thing. _Home sweet home_, she thought grimly.

But _wait_. Her home sweet home's lid wasn't ajar when she left it. Her home sweet home didn't make noise all by itself. And her home sweet home _especially_ didn't grow itself another occupant to keep her company! She gaped as a furry white head poked itself out of the garbage, and she found herself looking into the slightly surprised dark bronze eyes of a weathered-looking tom. "Whatcha lookin' at, honey?" he purred at length, pulling his dirty-white out of the rubbish to ogle her clearly. "You like what you see?" He tilted his head to the side, and she got a lovely view of a deep claw-inflicted scar cutting across his eye and down his cheek.

"What I _see_, Scarface?" Cami barked, and the tom's flirtatiousness evaporated, replaced with a hiss. "What I see is a narcissistic bastard who invades others' private space and dares _think_ he can make eyes at queens so they can even _glance_ his way!"

"Some color in your words there, honey," he said, voice dangerously low. "And I don't like 'em."

"Well, you better ready a canvas, 'cause I've got a whole rainbow for ya!" she spat, and in the blink of an eye she leapt up onto the dumpster and slammed the lid over the self-absorbed intruder. She then jumped off the dumpster and dashed away. _Great. Now someone's entered my territory. _She growled at the thought, sending a mouse scuttling to a crack in a wall. _Rats! I just lost a potential dinner! …Now what?_

Her rambles were cut short when the faded-out sign of Al's Pizza Planet caught her eye. Ah-_ha_.

She slunk to the back of the restaurant and waited near the backdoor. One of the waiters opened said door with his arms (and eyesight) filled with bulging garbage bags. Cami scampered inside the noisy kitchen just before the door could close. She hid under the nearest table, sure that no one would see her in all this activity. Someone took a fresh batch of pizza out of the oven, and she grinned. Lovely! The pizza was unsteady in the cook's hands, and, as expected, the entire thing fell spat on the floor.

She darted out of her hiding place and grabbed the pizza by the mouth and dragged it through the screaming and yelling kitchen staff. Some had the mind to try stopping her, throwing whatnot at her way, which she smoothly ducked. She grimaced when a cleaver hit her tail though; that was gonna hurt like hell later. The door opened, thank Bast, and she darted out between the legs of the cursing waiter.

She didn't bother to try looking back at the humans trying to catch up with her; their yells and curses died out before she even slipped off the end of the block. She chuckled when she found a dark spot away from unfriendly eyes. That cook wasn't getting a raise anytime soon; that was for sure. And the pizza was a bit soggy and small chunks were missing but, hell, it was worth it.

As she ate contentedly, she checked her tail and licked at it from time to time, wincing. _Cat spit heals all_, a kind voice in her head said softly, an old proverb repeated over and over when she was a kit, faceless, meaningless… but remembered.

When she was halfway through her meal, small sounds kept interrupting her, but she shrugged them off, not wanting to interrupt herself, but as they grew more discernible, she realized they were human: loud, noisy, and very chillingly unfamiliar…

_Aw crap in Heaviside_. She darted off and, sure enough, a few moments later, she heard a voice yell, "Oi! It's that cat! After it!"

_Dear Bast_, she gasped inwardly as she ran as fast as she could, the two cat catchers coming after her, net and noose in hand. _They never give up!_

"Hurry up you stupid ball of fat!" The smaller human spat at his companion.

"Why do we have to chase him? Like I said before, we've been after him forever and _never _get at him!" The fatter man almost tripped.

"The boss said to get him back, so we get him back! And you _know _what happens if we don't follow what the boss says!"

The fatter human shivered at the thought of their punishment. "Alright, alright." He panted. "Jesus, I wish we could just _kill _the goddamn animal!" He swore.

"If we do, we'll get an even _worse _punishment; you _know _that." The skinnier man quickened his pace. He was just a few meters away from Cami.

The other man growled. "What does the boss need him for anyways?"

"If the boss doesn't want to tell us, then he doesn't want to tell us, so shut up and get that bloody cat!"

Cami's paws ached, and tears of frustration threatened to escape her eyes, but collision with a white blur interrupted it.

"What the-?" She looked up. She had run into a tom with grey tiger-stripes on his back, scars across his eye and cheek and sides. All in all, he was far too familiar…

"YOU!" she yelped, glaring at him in disbelief.

"_YOU_!" he snarled back, baring his teeth at her.

She looked back. The humans were gaining on her and there was a Joaquin Phoenix incarnate in her way… _Though not as charismatic_, she thought angrily.

"You messed with the wrong tom, honey," he hissed, and bared his claws.

She was about to hiss back that she was in no way like saccharine stickiness from honeycombs when she heard the fatter man yell, "Look!" The fatter man pointed at them. "The cat got us a bonus! The boss'll be _so _happy." He grinned evilly.

"Well come on you oversized twit! After 'em!" The smaller, quicker man ran towards Cami and the scarred white cat, readying his net and noose.

"Outta the way, bucko!" She pummeled past him, not waiting for them to get their hands on her again.

"Oh _shiiiiiitttt_; cat catchers!" The tom howled, who had no choice but to run with her. "You got me tangled into this!" he yelled heatedly at her.

"You trespassed in the first place!" she spat back.

"How the hell was I supposed to know that it was _your_ property?"

"Didn't see the painfully large fireball on it?"

"Hell, it could've come with the dumpster for all I know!"

"You little—" She was cut short when they realized they were so busy squabbling that they rounded into a dead end. "Oh flappy crap-jackets…"

"We got 'em now!" The smaller human cried out as they got closer.

The two cats desperately looked around for a way to escape. _Think, __think__, __think__! …_Cami hissed to herself.

There! The familiar broken plank of wood on a flimsy metal fence was right there across the road. She never wanted to go back, but she had no choice. She pulled the tom by the collar and hissed, "You do exactly as I say and you might just be able to keep the rest of your face intact. When I say run, make to that fence over there."

"The _rest_ of my—" He started angrily, but Cami had already yelled "_RUN_!" and dashed through the legs of the cat catcher descending on them. "Ah, hell," he groaned and scuttled after her. They both dodged squealing cars as they made their hectic way to their escape. Hastily she jumped inside, the tom trying to follow her but a rope managed to wind around his neck and he was jerked backward by the skinny human. He yowled and hissed, trying to claw off the rope, but his captor laughed and hooted, "We got 'im! 'Ey, Bart, get the other one!"

Cami watched hissing from behind the fence. Should she leave the little bugger behind or what? "Bast help me," she sighed, and lunged at the leaner of the humans and bit his hand. He howled and cursed, letting go of the rope and leaving Cami free to grab the violently coughing tom. "Try to stand!" she yelled, but the fatter man lassoed her before she knew it. She yelped and gagged and tried to writhe free, her old wounds slowly opening from her exertions. _No_, she choked out. _No, __no__, __NO__! __Never__ again! __Never__, __EVER__ again!_

Rage erupted in her like a drug-induced adrenaline. Red specks clouded her view, and unearthly strength surged through her body. Without warning she twisted her body around and tugged on the rope so furiously with her fangs that the fat man was forced onto his face. She shredded the rest of the rope with her teeth and attacked the other human, who could do nothing but stare at her in shock. Only when she dug her claws onto his thigh did he react and try to ward her off. No matter how much he tried to pull her off, she only fastened herself to him harder. "What freak of nature are you?" he hissed at her through gritted teeth, feeling weaker as he bled all over his dirty pants.

Suddenly reinforcements burst through the hole and attacked the heavier man, who had only started to revive himself. The humans yowled in pain as multicolored blurs of cat scratched, bit and otherwise mutilated them. At length the chubby man cried, "I'm quitting this job!" He whacked off the last feline clinging to his arm and forced Cami off his partner's leg. "Come on, buddy!" he moaned, helping his pale, pale friend limp away. "These mangy beasts ain't actin' natural at all anymore; none o' them!"

Munkustrap winced softly when Tugger pulled him up. His chest hurt from where the fat human had almost squeezed the life out of him. "You okay, bro?" the Maine Coon asked worriedly. He himself was worse for wear; his golden mane was matted and dirty, and more than a few bruises were scattered on his dark body.

"You don't look like Little Miss Sunshine yourself," he chuckled weakly.

"Hey!" Tugger pouted. "The ladies dig these kinds of stuff."

"Thanks for so specifically telling us that, but can we look at the others now?" Alonzo snapped unenthusiastically. His ear was halfway torn in the middle of the fight, and he obviously didn't feel dapper about that. Munkustrap nodded and hobbled over to Plato, who was sprawled on the ground where the fat man had whacked him off and moaning far too loudly. "What is it?" the Protector asked tiredly.

"Ohhh… everything… _hurtssss_…" the lanky tom strained out.

The silver tom rolled his chocolate eyes and gently prodded the maroon-headed tom to make him roll over, and he whined, "_MUNK_! My neck can be broken for all we know!"

"Well, your mouth isn't, and that's not so great for us, now, is it?" Tugger scoffed, and everyone had to chuckle through their pain. Munkustrap regained his soberness and he sighed, "I don't have time for your drama acts, Plato; our home was almost attacked, you're not the only one (seriously) injured and I can barely breathe without feeling like my lungs are being set on fire, so please stop." Munkustrap had to sit after he said this; he was breathless after saying so much in his state.

Plato stood up, grumbling something about Munku being a killjoy and internal bleeding and fell silent when Alonzo cuffed him.

Mungojerrie, on the other hand, sporting a marvelous bruise on his cheek and a deep cut on his back, was done helping a sore Admetus haul the unconscious body of the scar-faced tom through the entrance. Now he turned to Cami, who was standing motionless and shaky where she was left. She stared unseeingly into nowhere, and Jerrie was getting a bit unnerved. He went over to the queen and tentatively waved a paw in front of her. "Er… Flame? Cami? Ye still thar?"

To his utter fascination and unnerving surprise, she turned to him, grinning like a Cheshire. "Hello!" she said in an absolutely chipper tone, her green eye empty and unnatural-like.

He stared at her before saying slowly, "Ah… hel… lo?"

"Hello! Hello! Hello!" As she repeated her words, her eye grew blanker, her voice higher and happier, and her grin growing wider than her face.

By now everyone was staring at her. "Wh-what's wrong with her?"Alonzo stammered, still a bit traumatized from his last encounter with her.

She pranced around like a show pony, giggling and glassy-eyed. She pounced on a very stunned Plato, still grinning that crazy grin. "Hello! Hello! I'm Cami, short for Caminus. I dance in your sun hat and I sit on your tail." She rolled onto the concrete sidewalk, still giggling and grinning. "Cami… Flame… Fire…" A frightened, rabid look came into her eyes. "Fire! Fire everywhere! _The flames of hell!_" She sprang up, fur standing on end.

Tugger raised an eyebrow. "What—"

She suddenly lunged at said tom, shaking him by the mane wildly. "Sparks! _Sparks_! Sparks falling from the eye of God! TangoTerry callin'! Mayday! _Mayday_! We're goin' down!" And she suddenly slumped at his feet, unconscious.

Tugger looked around at the slacked jaws of his friends. "Why do I feel oh-so very freaky all of a sudden?" he laughed nervously.

~!~

**_NEWS FLASH! This will be the last update for the next few months! Dunno when I'll be back with updates, but most probably late October and late December! That's all!_**

**_High School is EEEEEEEEEEVIIIILLLLLLLLL! _**8C


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